It’s not “Mike” or “Ted” or “Bob” or “Frank”. It’s much less common, though in the last 40 years or so it’s way more common than it was when I was a kid. The name is “Derek”. D-E-R-E-K. Fairly simple and straightforward. Not Derrick (perhaps the most popular version). Not Derik. Not Derrek. Not Derk or Derrik or Deryk, though if I were a girl born after 2000 it might likely be Deryk or Dyrryck.
And it’s not Ph’Dferek (you know who you are).
Yeah, I got a little triggered this morning by it. And it’s something that happens fairly frequently but usually I don’t think much of it. Maybe I’m used to it. But here’s the thing:
You literally just saw my name and how it’s spelled, yet when you wrote it you decided to change the spelling.
- If you reply to an email, you saw that it came from “Derek Silva”.
- If you created a new email, you selected the name “Derek Silva” from a contact list.
- If you replied to something on social media, you saw “Derek” or “DerekSilva1234”.
- If you visited my website, you saw “DerekSilva.com”.
Seriously, how disinterested must you be in order to spell someone’s name wrong? And how critically-wounded must one be in order to do it immediately after seeing it spelled correctly?
Clearly I’m more sensitive to it than most because of how often people spell my name incorrectly. But I pay extra attention to get people’s names correct when I’m addressing them. It’s a sign of respect. Do you care enough, do you respect them enough, are you paying attention enough to get their name right?
And ESPECIALLY if you just saw how it’s spelled.
Yikes, what a baby I must be.
